I was going through some pictures from our summer adventures and came upon this one. This was a cool little viking shop in Copenhagen, hardly visible unless you happened to stumble down the little street it was on. We passed it a time or two when we were avoiding the crowds on Strøget but it was closed. My son wanted to see the contents as did I. So on our second to last day in Copenhagen we made a special trip to find it (which wasn’t easy–it’s easier to find when you aren’t looking for it).

The place was owned by a guy who looks like a viking. He was a very nice man who spoke perfect English. He spends his days in his shop making viking wares by hand.

Another reason I share this photo is it captured a bit of my Copenhagen bike which I miss so much.

November 20th, 2008 | Tags: copenhagen | Category: Denmark | Leave a comment

When we were in Tokyo last spring our trip coincided with the Tokyo International Anime Fair on Odaiba at Tokyo Big Sight. We took the kids and had a great time. Unfortunately, my SD card in my camera crapped out on me and all of those pictures were lost. (As were all of my tsukiji pictures… arrggh…)

Amongst the tens of thousands of people at the anime show were a few foreigners, but my kids were the only foreign kids that I saw. With my daughter’s blond hair we really stuck out and got lots of attention. We even got to bypass the line to get in (which was, and I’m not exaggerating, over a mile long). Skipping the line had to do with the fact that we were a family rather than our foreignness or my daughter’s hair color.

At the fair a bunch of characters came up to us in costume for pictures. They weren’t familiar to me, but they looked great in a crazy way. They then pulled my kids into a baseball game of sorts that my son won by hitting the ball through someone’s legs. His prize consisted of some posters and gifts related to the anime or manga they were promoting. They’ve been hanging on his wall ever since. The title? ge ge ge no kitaro (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎)

Recently I became interested in the author of gegege, Shigeru Mizuki (水木 しげる), because of a biography on him in a magazine. I wanted to read some of his manga, which aren’t easy to come by in the states. However, through the university I’m affiliated with I can check out books located at virtually any college or university located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. The only one they had available with Mizuki San as the author was Akumakun Seikimatsu Taisen (悪魔くん世紀末大戦).

I read Akumakun Seikimatsu Taisen this past week and have mixed feelings about the content. The illustrations and characters are outstanding. However, the story is rather hit and miss. Occasionally it is brilliant, but at other times it seems like it was written by a 10 year old who ran out of ideas. For instance, at the end, using the magic flute to call one of the disciples (because he can’t stand the sound) is very clever. But then to use the same flute a few pages later to wipe out the numerous godzilla-like creatures who are coming out of the ocean to attack Tokyo lacks creativity. A few minutes of thought could have provided a more unusual and original way to take on those sea-dwelling monsters.

Anyway, it was mostly fun to read. I was even able to recognize, without a dictionary, some of the words that I learned by reading Harry Potter in Japanese that I never thought I would need to know again like tsue (杖) for magic wand or staff. This book lacks furigana so you’ll need to know a fair amount of kanji to read it without constantly referring to a dictionary.

November 18th, 2008 | Tags: Japanese Manga, reviews | Category: Japan | Leave a comment

Ueno Park (上野公園) in Tokyo is famous for its cherry blossoms. Unfortunately, we were a bit too early (in late March) to see many. Another week or two and this road would have been really spectacular. The fact that there weren’t many blossoms didn’t seem to deter the Japanese from having all sorts of hanami (花見, flower viewing) parties.

If you look closely at this picture (maybe after clicking on it so it becomes larger) you’ll see hundreds of bins for recycling on either side of this road. It’s rare that you see trash bins in Japan even though things are cleaner than just about any place on earth. But in Ueno Park during the hanami season there are more recycling bins than anywhere I’ve seen before.

The sign on the lower right says そう資源 別ゴミ箱 which means something like “preserve our natural resources by separating garbage into the different bins.” On the lower left it says カン (cans) and 生ゴミ (living garbage, like banana peels, etc.)

I should also mention that the above picture was taken at about 10 a.m. in the morning. Imagine the number of people in the afternoon and evening when the blossoms are going crazy!

November 17th, 2008 | Tags: cherry blossoms, japan pictures, sakura, Tokyo | Category: Japan | Leave a comment

November 16th, 2008 | Tags: japan pictures, night photography, Tokyo | Category: Japan | Leave a comment

Tokyo Story arrived from Netflix yesterday so I watched this classic last night. I don’t like to know anything about a movie before I watch it. I don’t want to know the story, the actors’ names, or even the kind of movie it is. I like it all to be a surprise. If someone recommends a movie to me and starts to comment on it I stop them right there. I then check imdb.com to see if it got at least 7 out of 10. If it passes the imdb test I add the DVD to my Netflix queue. If you are like me, read no more. Put this in your Netflix queue or pick up a copy through the link above.

I loved this movie. Others, looking for something more action packed, will certainly be disappointed. The movie is slow paced and gives the viewer plenty of time to take it all in and think. If you are a student of the Japanese language I think you will find this movie fairly easy to understand given its less-than hectic pace and dialogue. Other than the grandparents’ accents (which sound something like a cross between kyushuben and kansaiben–ending many sentences and phrases with a na) and the scene featuring the ramblings of drunk men at a bar, I had little problem understanding the movie in Japanese (although it came with English subtitles of course).

I enjoyed the subtleness of the interactions which cause the viewer to come to love the daughter-in-law and despise the other children as the characters become clearer through the movie’s progression. I found it a little unfortunate when the subtleties were broken with the exchange between the daughter-in-law and the youngest daughter. Basically, the daughter-in-law’s goodness is frankly contrasted, in words, with the wrongness of the other children for viewers not paying attention. I didn’t think this was necessary, and the scene would have been cut had I been the editor.

The final scene brought a tear to my eye. I wanted to jump into my TV to give grandpa a hug.

If you are interested in a look at Japan (especially, but not only, Tokyo) less than a decade after the war then this film is not to be missed.

November 14th, 2008 | Tags: reviews | Category: Japan | Leave a comment

Otherwise known, in English, as the Walk of Philosophy, The Philosopher’s Path, or The Philosopher’s Walk (哲学の道 or tetsugaku no michi), this is a small path beside a canal between Ginkakuji (The Silver Pavilion) and the Nanzenji area of Kyoto.

Early in April you will see many cherry blossoms along this path. We purchased some hand-painted postcards from an artist immediately after she painted them along the path. They hang in a frame in my bathroom where I am happily reminded of this path on a daily basis.

November 13th, 2008 | Tags: cherry blossoms, japan pictures, kyoto, sakura | Category: Japan | Leave a comment